Background: It has long been established that there is an association between cardiovascular disease and
periodontitis. Evidence shows periodontally infected patients may be at a higher risk of thrombotic accidents via
induced systemic inflammatory mediators’ production and increase in serum levels of autoantibodies such as anticardiolipin
antibody. The aim of the present study was to determine the presence of anti-cardiolipin antibody
(ACLA)-IgG and -IgM, and to investigate the systemic levels of inflammatory markers of cardiovascular diseases like
high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with chronic periodontitisin (CP) as well
as to examine the relationships between these mediators and clinical periodontal parameters.
Subjects and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 45 patients with CP (20 with sever periodontitis and 25
with moderate periodontitis) and from 30 healthy age matched individuals served as controls. Clinical periodontal
parameters used in this study were plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level
and bleeding on probing. The levels of serum ACLA-IgG, ACLA-IgM, hs-CRP and IL-6 were determined using enzymelinked
immunosorbent assays.
Results: The current results revealed that serum levels of ACLA-IgG, hs-CRP and IL-6 were significantly higher in
patients group as compared to healthy control group (p<0.05, p<0.001), whereas the serum level ACLA-IgM was not
observed any significant differences between two groups (p>0.05). Concerning the comparison between two
patient groups, sever CP group showed significant elevation in serum levels of ACLA-IgG, hs-CRP and IL-6 (p<0.05,
p<0.001), while there is no differences in serum level of ACLA-IgM when compared to moderate CP patients group
(p>0.05). Furthermore, in regards to the correlation between serum ACLA-IgG, ACLA-IgM, hs-CRP and IL-6, and
clinical periodontal parameters, IL-6 level was showed significant positive correlation with clinical attachment level,
whereas hs-CRP was showed significant positive correlation with each of probing pocket depth, clinical attachment
level and bleeding on probing. Moreover; linear positive correlation was noticed between ACLA-IgG and clinical
attachment level. Conversely, ACLA-IgM level did not show any correlation with clinical parameters of periodontitis
(p>0.05).
Conclusion: Elevation in prothrombotic autoantibodies, ACLA-IgG and inflammatory mediators (hs-CRP and IL-6)
factors may increase inflammatory activity in atherosclerotic lesions and potentially increasing the risk for
cardiovascular events |